Stocks traded in a pretty tight range. Still, it's worth
noting that the Dow closed at an all-time high and the S&P
500 remains near its all-time high. In fact, the year-end rally
has been so strong that
Wall Street's strategists are rethinking their 2014
forecasts. In a new note to clients, Citi's Tobias
Levkovich said his mid-2014 targets were basically pulled
forward into 2013. "The good news from credit conditions,
hiring intentions and capital spending plans on the economy and
likely earnings growth can provide upside appreciation
potential while sentiment, intra-stock correlation and even
valuation suggest concern," he wrote. "Overall, we can get to a
1,975 kind of outcome, but we may also see choppier markets and
early indicators on volatility also intimate reasons to be
worried." Previously, Levkovich estimated that the S&P 500
would only go to 1,900.

Pending home sales climbed by just 0.2% month-over-month in
November, missing economists' expectation for a 1.0% gain.
"Although the final months of 2013 are finishing on a soft
note, the year as a whole will end with the best sales total in
seven years," said Lawrence Yun of the National Association of
Realtors.

The
Dallas Federal Reserve's manufacturing survey index rose to
3.1 in December, which was lower than the 4.0 level expected by
economists. From the report:"The production index, a
key measure of state manufacturing conditions, fell from 16.9
to 7.1, indicating output grew at a slower pace than in
November. Other measures of current manufacturing activity
reflected slower or no growth. The new orders index
came in near zero, suggesting demand was largely unchanged from
November after seven months of increases.
The shipments index also fell to around zero, coming
in at 0.7, after rising to 14.8 last month. The capacity
utilization index declined 8 points to 8.6."